Meet Me and Sam In St. Louis

On Thursday, May 2nd, 2019, Sam Begley and I got up at the crack of dawn and prepared for our fun adventure to St. Louis with Sam's 1st Grade class.  He has been studying Louis and Clark and the westward expansion at school which culminated in a trip to the St. Louis Arch.

We left our house at 4:30 a.m. and headed to school.  Sam was excited about the trip.  He was very excited to stop at McDonald's and get breakfast.  We arrived at the school right on time and boarded the bus.  I was a big charter bus with internet and a bathroom.



We sat right in front of Sam's friend Ayden.  Midway through the trip Sam switched places with Ayden's mom and the two boys built a blanket fort by draping a blanket over the back of the seats.  They had so much fun.



We arrived in St. Louis a little before noon.  The picture above is the first sighting of the Arch.  All the kids ran up to the front of the bus.  They were gathered together pointing and screaming.  I didn't get my camera out in time to capture the sheer madness.





Our first stop on the trip was to the Arch.  It was raining, so we all put on our rain jacket and made a run for it.



Before heading inside, I did manage to get a few pictures of Sam.





The Arch Plaza was really pretty.  Too bad we really could take any pictures outside.  I did my best to take a few from the inside window.



Once inside, we made our way to the elevators. We watched a brief video of the history of the Arch and then they took a souvenir photo.

Next, they put on the elevators. They were tiny little pods that held five people.  The pod was explained as a cross between an elevator, an escalator and a ferris wheel. Because we were in an curved structure, the elevator tilted, jerked and readjusted in an unsettling way. It was also completely enclosed which made it seem that much stranger.



This is a picture of Sam telling me not to take a picture.  We were told not to take pictures until we were seated and the door was completely closed.  Here, the door was not completely closed and Sam gave me a stern reminder.



This is Sam feeling the readjustment of the elevator.



Sam loved the top.  He was amazed at how high up we were.  He was so precious describing everything he could see.  He listed our hotel, our bus, and three roof top swimming pools.  He asked me to take a picture so that Finn could see.  He kept saying over and over how much Finn would love this view.  Sam is just a sweet and thoughtful brother.











Then Sam noticed that you could look outside both sets windows. He went to the other side and yelled, "MOM! IT'S THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI!"







Here we are in the pod on the way down.



This is a model of the pod that they have the lobby.

 Before we left, Sam made a stop at the gift shop.  I told him that he could pick out whatever he wanted.  He decided on a coffee mug. He told me that he wanted this mug so that he could remember his trip every time he drank hot chocolate.  I was very impressed by his choice.  It is a really cool color changing mug.

On our way back to the bus Sam decided that he wanted to touch the Arch. It was raining so Sam ran as fast as he could.

Next, we went to the City Museum.  I wish I had looked it up before leaving for the trip so that I could have dressed more appropriately.  It wasn't a learning museum.  The website describes it as follows: 

"City Museum is a hundred-year-old warehouse in downtown St. Louis in which artists have repurposed the pieces of old cities to build miles of tunnels, slides, climbers, bridges, and castles.  There are secret passages and grand galleries. Playgrounds and ball pits. A circus and a train. A rooftop school bus and a Ferris wheel."

It was incredible.  Sam and I crawled through tiny spaces for hours. Many of the placed were so tiny that you could only get through my climbing on your belly or scooting on your back.  I was exhausted and really sweaty from winding through those tunnels under the floor.I can't describe or capture on film how cool this place is. Again, I am so glad that I was able to do this with Sam.  He was so excited that I though he was have a stroke.  If ever I lost him, I could just listen for his voice overhead. I was one of the only parents that went in with the kids and they wore me out.



Sam and Jake in the underground tunnels.









Sam asked me to take this picture.











While at the Arch Sam started playing with a boy in his class named Jake.  They were pretty much inseparable from that point forward. Jake made this trip really special for Sam.  He told me several times how much he loves Jake. 





Underneath that whale is the entrance to a tunnel. I ended up crawling on my belly out from underneath it.

I couldn't really get a good picture, so found some on the website.

I almost got stuck in that middle tube.








After the museum we went to check into the hotel.  We stayed at the Drury Plaza right next to the Arch.  Sam and I had our own room.  Sam was pumped about our hotel room.  He always asked me to give him the key so that he could open the door.   Next we went to dinner.  We ended up going with a small group to the Old Spaghetti Factory.  The adults all sat together and the kids sat behind us. Sam really wanted a hamburger.  He has asked all day for one.  I assured him that there would be hamburger on the kid's menu.  I was wrong.  To make up for it, I bought him a Cotton Candy Limeade.



I know I sound like a broken record, but Sam so much fun at dinner.  He sat with Carter and Ayden and they played the entire time.





We took this on our way back from dinner.





Once back at the hotel room, Sam put on his trunks and headed to the pool.  We saw another family as we were getting onto the elevator.  Sam and the other girl were so embarrassed to see each other in their swimsuits.  They both said "hi" in quite voices and wouldn't make eye contact with each other. Their entire demeanor changed.  It was hilarious.

Sam swam for about an hour and half and then we went back to the room.  We showered and then watched a few minutes of TV in bed.



The next morning we got up and had breakfast in the lobby. Sam selected a high top table for us. The table was so tall that Sam couldn't scoot himself up to the table.  After breakfast, Sam and I walked through town to Starbucks so that I could get a collector's mug.  This might be one of my favorite memories from the trip.  When we got to Starbucks Sam ordered a hot chocolate.  When asked if he wanted whipped cream, his mouth dropped in awe and he said, "You can do that?"  The clerk laughed and said, "yes."  Sam then whispered in his most amazed voice, "oh yes, please." He was so proud of that Starbucks cup.  He felt like such a big kid walking through the streets of downtown St. Louis holding his hot chocolate.

After getting packed and ready to go, Sam and I went down to the lobby to wait for the bus.  There were a few statues of Louis and Clark in a little fountain area.  Sam, like most of the children was drawn to "Seaman" - the dog.  Yes, his name is Seaman, which resulted in many a stifled laugh for me.  At one point while on the bus Ms. Mundy (Sam's teacher) was talking about Seaman, the dog.  Sam looked at me and in a much too loud voice said, "Ms. Mundy loves Seaman."  It was so funny yet so unfortunate for Ms. Mundy.

Then it was off to the Zoo. It was packed with school aged children, but Sam had a really good time. He jumped off this rock at least 30 time while waiting on our tickets.







Sam and Jake liked the elephants the best.  Sam waited a really long time for one to poop.  Jake's mom ask to take a picture of the boys.  This was Sam's pose.











Our last activity of the trip was to ride the train around the zoo.

Getting back on the bus proved to be a challenge.  There were 82 school leaving at the same time.  It took us an hour and half to board.  But once we were on the bus it was smooth sailing.  Sam decided that he wanted to sit with Jake so about an hour into the trip I let him go to the back.  He and Jake played (mostly quietly) together the remaining four hours. We got back home a little be 8:00 p.m.

Sam told me in the car how much fun he had and how glad we was that I got to go with him.  I told him the same. Later that night I sat and cried happy tears.  This was such a special trip.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to spend one on one time with Sam.  He has such a sweet spirit and he gets so excited about everything.  Every time he would get excited about something, be it riding to the top of the Arch or even just a coke at the gas station, he would say, "I love you so much mom."  He told me a hundred time on the trip.  He is so sincere and he has no agenda.  It just broke my heart each time.  I wish that I could just capture the whole weekend and watch it in my mind and remember every sweet little smile.  As grateful as I am,  I am also sad because I know I will never have this moment again. It is so precious to me.



My St. Louis mug.